DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - In an offensive outburst for the ages, the 16th-ranked Embry-Riddle Men's Soccer team emerged with an 18-0 victory over visiting Ave Maria on Saturday night, securing a berth into The Sun Conference Tournament along the way. Senior
Nicklas Petersson shone brightest at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium, scoring four goals and racking up a NAIA single-game record eight assists in the victory. Petersson wasn't the only Eagle to reach a milestone on Saturday evening as junior goalkeeper
Nils Carlson notched his 17th career shutout, tying Viktor Bergstrand for the Embry-Riddle program record.
The Eagles (8-1, 6-0) dominated every aspect of the game, recording 41 shots (28 on goal), while holding the Gyrenes (1-10, 0-5) to just seven total shots, none of which were on target. 10 different Blue and Gold players scored, led by Petersson's four goals and hat tricks from
Veit Couturier and Sigurbergur Ellison.
The Eagles reached the scoreboard in the 4th minute when Petersson beat his defender on the right side of the pitch, crossing a ball to Couturier who slotted home the first of 18 goals on the evening.
Embry-Riddle would stretch the lead to 4-0 over the next 11 minutes, and
Erik Norburg scored his first goal of the year at the 28:02 mark off a feed from Petersson.
Magnus Magnusson tallied his first goal of the season a few minutes later, becoming the fourth beneficiary of a Petersson cross.
Petersson would add his second goal of the night before Elisson scored his second to give the Eagles a 9-0 advantage heading into halftime.
The second half featured more of the same for the hosts as Elisson and Couturier both completed their hat tricks from the 63rd through 68th minutes of action.
Jacob Stevenback found the back of the net for the first time in 2013 in the 78th minute, while
Jared Nordman put the finishing touches on the evening with the final goal in the 84th minute, his first of the season.
Petersson's final assist came off a nice play between himself, freshman
Stephan Gnadl and Nordman. Petersson crossed the ball to the far post to Gnadl who was able to one-touch the ball to Nordman who beat the Gyrene keeper.
Carlson, who was rarely called upon in goal, got his fifth shutout of the season, lowering his goals-against-average to 1.00 in the process.
In addition to breaking the NAIA assists record, Petersson tallied 16 points, setting an Embry-Riddle record, a number good for fourth in NAIA history.
As a team, the Eagles tallied 19 assists, the second-most in NAIA history, and broke the program record for goals in a game (18) and points (55).
Embry-Riddle will hit the road to take on Warner in TSC play on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. in Lake Wales, Fla.
